The Believer
Abraham Lincoln's spiritual devotion to democracy
Diary of the Late Republic, #10
Greetings, friends. Today I have another piece in Current magazine, this one a review of the work of Civil War scholar Allen Guelzo, in particular his new book Our Ancient Faith: Lincoln, Democracy, and the American Experiment. My analysis focuses in particular on Guelzo’s treatment of Lincoln’s spiritual life, more specifically what might be termed his civil religion of democracy. As many scholars have noted, Lincoln had an odd religious vision, one that began with flirtations with controversial figures like the (wrongly) accused atheist Thomas Paine but which took on increasingly Christian overtones over the course of his life, most obviously in his magnificent Second Inaugural. Yet to the end, Lincoln was a bit of an odd duck that way (Jesus Christ is largely absent from his meditations.) As Guelzo notes, Lincoln’s real fascination was with what is known as Natural Law, a centuries-old quest to trace, articulate, and strengthen a set of moral precepts rooted in classical thought, theology, and the Enlightenment. It has largely fallen out of favor, especially in legal circles. But it may merit another look.
A reminder for any of you who may be interested: I will be appearing tonight at 7 p.m. (4/18) for a conversation with Melissa Ziobro, curator of the Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music, discussing my books on Springsteen. Here’s the (free) link to register.
And John Adams spirituality- a passage from McCullough's wonderful biography:
“A rain had fallen from some warmer region in the skies when the cold here below was intense to an extreme. Every drop was frozen wherever it fell in the trees, and clung to the limbs and sprigs as if it had been fastened by hooks of steel. The earth was never more universally covered with snow, and the rain had frozen upon a crust on the surface, which shone with the brightness of burnished silver. The icicles on every sprig glowed in al the luster of diamonds. Every tree was a chandelier of cut glass. I have seen the queen of France, with 18 millions of livres of diamonds upon her person, and I declare that all the charms of her face and figure added to all the glitter of her jewels, did not make an impression on me equal to that presented by every shrub. The whole world was glittering with precious stones.